LOS ANGELES: The nominee for The Game Awards various categories were announced on Monday, including the six contenders for the prestigious Game of the Year award.
ASTRO BOT
Fans predicted that Sony’s Astro Bot would make it onto the list as it did. The game is Sony’s latest attempt to rival Nintendo’s Mario, creating a mascot which goes on an adventure through which it meets past PlayStation stars. The platformer developed by Team Asobi received critical acclaim, with a score of 94 on Metacritic.
FINAL FANTASY 7: REBIRTH
Alongside Sony’s goldenbot is Square Enix’s Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. Releasing earlier this year, Rebirth was the sequel to 2020’s Final Fantasy 7 remake. The latest game is the second in what will be a trilogy that recreates the original Final Fantasy 7, which released in 1997 and changed the gaming landscape forever. The original is widely regarded as one of the most influential games of all time. Rebirth released earlier this year, and was lauded for its expansive open zones which made the world of FF7 feel more lived in than ever before. The sequel to 2020’s Remake also expanded on the already incredible combat system, making it a definitive contender for Game fo the Year.
BLACK MYTH: WUKONG
Antoher action RPG on the list is Black Myth: Wukong, which was developed by Game Science. The game was one of the first major forays into tripe A games by a Chinese developer. It received an 81 on Metacritic, delivering some of the most exciting combat of the year, with its systems drawing inspiration from the Soulslike genre as well as the God of War series.
METAPHOR: REFANTAZIO
Metaphor: Refantazio is the second Japanese Role Playing Game on the list. Releasing in October, the game was met with immediate praise, receiving a 94 on Metacritic. The game brought developer Atlus’ nearly perfected formula, of a turn based combat adventure mixed with a social sim, to new heights. Instead of being set in high school like Atlus’ Persona series, Metaphor is set in a fantasy world. After the King of that world is murdered, the protagonist and his comrades are sent on a globe-trotting adventure to garner favour from the populace in order to stake a claim to the throne, all while hoping to save the Kingdom’s cursed prince.
ELDEN RING: SHADOW OF THE ERDTREE
The remaining two entries for Game of the Year are more surprising. Elden Ring, which won game of the year in 2022, had a DLC released this year. Many fans wondered if a mere expansion would be eligible for the award. The Game Awards clarified that it would with a statement released on their website earlier in the week.
“Expansion packs, new game seasons, DLCs, remakes and remasters are eligible in all categories, if the jury deems the new creative and technical work to be worthy of a nomination,” the statement read.
The announcement was met with mixed reactions from the gaming community, with some citing that an expansion that is unplayable without the base game should be ineligible, while others believe the expansion offered enough new content to be considered an entirely new experience. However, it brings into question why other highly acclaimed expansions, such as Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, which was praised for revitalising a highly flawed experience didn’t receive any nominations last year.
BALATRO
The last game on the list is an indie title, Balatro. The poker-themed, deck-building rogue-like was published by a single developer, LocalThunk. Players are challenged to overcome progressively difficult score totals. After progressive through a round, players are able to upgrade their deck with a variety of options such as joker cards or tarot cards.
Talking to Polygon, LocalThunk stated that how surreal the nomination was for him. “The more time goes on the more I feel like I just happened to stumble into winning the game developer lottery. I’d like to think the game has appeal but I feel that appeal pales in comparison to the incredible other nominees,” said the Balatro developer.
Indie games have been nominated before with BlueTwelve Studio’s Stray being nominated in 2022, and Supergiant games Hades being nominated in 2020. However, it is the first tiem that a game developed by a single individual is up for the award.